Download Chapter 15: Evolution of the Brain and Language

Key Terms
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 Language: the unique system of communication used by
members of the human species.
 Neurons: the basic cellular units of the nervous system.
A neuron consists of a cell body and specialized processes
called dendrites (which receive inputs from other
neurons) and axons (outgrowths through which neurons
send impulses to other neurons).
 Cerebral cortex: the layer of gray matter that covers the
surface of the cerebral hemispheres, divided into
functional regions that correspond to local patterns of
neuronal organization.
Cont.
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 Cerebellum: the “little brain” tucked under the cerebrum,
and important in the control of balance, posture, and
voluntary movement.
 Cerebrum: the largest part of the human brain, which is
split into left and right hemispheres. Seat of all “higher”
brain functions.
 Paleoneurology: the study of the evolution of brain
structure and function.
 Encephalization quotient (EQ): the ratio of the actual
brain size of a species to its expected brain size based on
statistical regression of brain-to-body size based on a
large number of species.
Brain Organization
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 Olfactory bulbs: knoblike structures, located on the
underside of the frontal lobes, that form the
termination of olfactory nerves running from the
nasal region to the brain.
 Prefrontal region: the association cortex of the
frontal lobes, located forward of the primary motor
region of the precentral gyrus and the supplemental
motor areas.
What does the brain do?
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http://www.mayfieldclinic.com/PEAnatBrain.htm#.UmKJDfmkpA0
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EQ and Fossil Hominins
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Page 452
Language
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Spoken
Semantic
Phonemic
Grammatical
Recursion
Genetic basis for Langauge
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 The anatomical, neural and cognitive bases of speech and language
have been open to investigation for some years. Only recently have
modern genetic tools been brought to bear on this fascinating
aspect of being human [1]. A novel molecular perspective is
emerging, driven by isolation of genomic variants that are
correlated with disturbances in speech, language and/or
reading 2 and 3. One finding at the heart of this new wave of
research was the discovery of FOXP2 mutations that cause a
monogenic speech and language disorder 4 and 5. Given adequate
environmental input, children normally acquire highly proficient
spoken language without conscious effort or formal tuition [6]. By
contrast, individuals carrying heterozygousFOXP2 mutations have
difficulties mastering complex sequences of mouth movements
underlying speech (developmental verbal dyspraxia), and have
impaired expressive and receptive language, whereas other aspects
of cognition and development are relatively spared [7] (Box 1).
Evolution of Grammar?
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Language in the Brain
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Language in the Throat
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Hyoid Bone
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 A small “floating bone”
in the front part of the
throat, which is held in
place by muscles and
ligaments.
Scenarios of Language
Evolution
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Throwing and Language Evolution
Language as a Replacement for Grooming
Symbols and Sex
Gesture and Spoken Language
The Structure of
Language
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 Phonology, the study of speech sounds, considers which
sounds are present and meaningful in a given language.
 Morphology studies the forms in which sounds combine
to form morphemes— words and their meaningful parts.
Thus, the word cats would be analyzed as containing two
morphemes—cat, the name for a kind of animal, and -s,
a morpheme indicating plurality.
 A language’s lexicon is a dictionary containing all its
morphemes and their meanings.
 Syntax refers to the arrangement and order of words in
phrases and sentences. For example, do nouns usually
come before or after verbs? Do adjectives normally
precede or follow the nouns they modify?
Phoneme
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 A phoneme is a sound contrast that makes a difference,
that differentiates meaning. We find the phonemes in a
given language by comparing minimal pairs, words that
resemble each other in all but one sound. The words have
different meanings, but they differ in just one sound. The
contrasting sounds therefore are phonemes in that
language. An example in English is the minimal pair
pit/bit. These two words are distinguished by a single
sound contrast between /p/ and /b/ (we enclose
phonemes in slashes). Thus /p/ and /b/ are phonemes in
English.
Phonetics
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 Phonetics is the study of speech sounds in general, what
people actually say in various languages, like the
differences in vowel pronunciation described in the
discussion of Midwestern speech at the beginning of the
chapter.
 Phonemics studies only the significant sound contrasts
(phonemes) of a given language. In English, like /r/ and
/l/ (remember craw and claw), /b/ and /v/ also are
phonemes, occurring in minimal pairs like bat and vat. In
Spanish, however, the contrast between [b] and [v]
doesn’t distinguish meaning, and they therefore are not
phonemes
The Sapir-Whorf
Hypothesis
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 Rather than seeking universal linguistic structures and processes,
they believe that different languages produce different ways of
thinking. This position sometimes is known as the Sapir-Whorf
hypothesis after Edward Sapir (1931) and his student Benjamin
Lee Whorf (1956), its prominent early advocates. Sapir and Whorf
argued that the grammatical categories of particular languages
lead their speakers to think about things in different ways. For
example, English divides time into past, present, and future. Hopi,
a language of the Pueblo region of the Native American Southwest,
does not. Rather, Hopi distinguishes between events that exist or
have existed (what we use present and past to discuss) and those
that don’t or don’t yet (our future events, along with imaginary
and hypothetical events). Whorf argued that this difference leads
Hopi speakers to think about time and reality in different ways
than English speakers do.
Vocabulary
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 Such specialized sets of terms and distinctions that
are particularly important to certain groups (those
with particular foci of experience or activity) are
known as focal vocabulary.
 Consider differences between female and male
Americans regarding the color terms they use
(Lakoff 2004). Distinctions implied by such terms as
salmon, rust, peach, beige, teal, mauve, cranberry,
and dusky orange aren’t in the vocabularies of most
American men. However, many of them weren’t
even in American women’s lexicons 50 years ago
Gender Speech
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Speech and Social Class?
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